S shouldn’t be in the government’s race to cut taxes – Labour

“It has become expensive to live in Sweden,” party leader Magdalena Andersson said when she presented the Social Democrats’ proposal for a “tax cut for ordinary people” at the end of August.

This proposal came in response to the tax cuts that the government wants to introduce into the state budget, which will be presented on September 20.

The government sent its proposals for consultation in April, and since then tax cuts have been at the heart of the economic policy debate.

When the Prime Minister talked about a new business tax deduction on Monday, Kommunal president Malin Rajnegard was not surprised.

– The Social Democrats’ move on tax cuts opens the door to precisely that. It is a competition about who wants to cut taxes the most, when the competition should instead be about who wants to invest the most in social care.

“Boring with tax cuts”

Even if the Social Democrats’ tax cut would give a fairer distribution than the government, sadly the tax cuts have to be party-wide, says Kommunal party leader Malin Ragnegard.

Councilors are under pressure from rising prices and falling real wages, so of course an extra hundred per month after tax would be welcome.

But social care workers are also under pressure from another direction: they have a very difficult time in their workplace. Many cannot afford to work full-time, but are relegated to part-time work. Even though they can’t afford it, says Malin Ragnegard.

Some members even ended their permanent employment and took on temporary positions and hourly workers. This way, they at least have some authority over their working hours, says Komunal’s boss.

Working conditions are more important

Working conditions that enable social care workers to work full-time until retirement would benefit members’ finances much more than a tax cut, says Malin Ragnegaard.

Instead, huge deficits in municipalities and regions mean further staff cuts.

Many schools are now laying off teachers, which has received a lot of attention.

But it’s not the teachers who come first, it’s the student assistants, teaching assistants and recreation leaders, says Malin Ragnegard.

– Many of them have insecure jobs and simply cannot extend their employment when their temporary employment ends. Such reductions are less noticeable, but vital resources are lost.

“Are there more guaranteed fixes?”

How can Kommunal criticize members getting reduced taxes??
– Obviously we believe that those who earn less should get more, we fought hard for this in the Accord movement, answers Malin Ragnegard.

– But there are more reliable reforms, such as canceling the retirement allowance. When our members do not have the conditions to work full time, all resources must go to social care.